For the First Time
by SiriSunrider
Summary: Flynn Rider didn't mean to kidnap the princess, and all he wants to do is get out of her hair - literally. The Princess of Corona, however, has other plans. Rapunzel has spent her whole life in the castle, and she isn't about to let go of her first opportunity to explore the world outside.


Author's Note: This is my first Tangled fic, so I'm a bit nervous about publishing it. A few weeks ago I got into a Tangled craze where I watched the movie a bunch and started reading fanfiction and viewing fan art. The cover picture is what inspired this fanfic, and I really hope I'm not stealing anyone's imagine. If I am I'll take it down immediately.

This story is an AU in which Rapunzel has been raised in the castle, so her characterization will likely be off from the movies. I hope this won't be too off putting. Nevertheless you have been warned.

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For the First Time

Prologue

When I was a kid there was a nurse at the orphanage. I could never remember her name, but she was pretty and she was always nice to us. She would only ever come around when children were sick, and even though the sickness was terrible we always looked forward to it. She would tell stories and sing songs; it was the only good part about being sick. I remember when I was sick with a particularly bad flu she came and visited me when all the other kids got to play outside. She sang a song to me as she put a damp cloth on my forehead.

_"Flower gleam and glow_  
_Let your power shine_  
_Make the clock reverse_  
_bring back what once was mine_  
_heal what has been hurt_  
_change the fates design_  
_save what has been lost_  
_bring back what once was mine_  
_what once was mine."_

She told me that it was an old poem and that her father had put it to music and sung it to her when she was sick. The song soon became a favorite among the children, but soon after Corona's new princess had almost been kidnapped she stopped coming around. I never knew why she left, but I soon forgot the nurse and her magic flower song. I wouldn't hear the song again for nearly eighteen years.

Chapter One

Flynn and the Stabbington brothers had sneaked onto the castle grounds just before sunset. It was the only time they could do it. For a whole half hour three guard posts were left unattended, as most of the men went to go eat in mess hall, and the remaining were meant to patrol. It was a flaw in the system, but since no one had tried to break into the castle for nearly eighteen years, the kingdom obviously thought they could afford it. Flynn had watched their defenses for weeks, and had finally decided to exploit this particular weakness.

Unfortunately for him, though, the next time they would have the opportunity would be just after midnight. Which meant they had to sit and wait for at least three and a half hours before Flynn could get what he came for. The roof had been surprisingly easy to get onto, and since the kingdom wasn't expecting aerial attacks, no guards patrolled it. It made their wait less stressful to sit and watch as the kingdom went to sleep, but it didn't make Flynn any less impatient.

The crown would be the most valuable thing Flynn had ever stolen, and he hoped it would be the last thing he ever had to steal. He already had a seller; a man in a nearby kingdom with a questionable collection of valuables was willing to pay Flynn more money for it than he could ever hope to spend in a lifetime. The Stabbington brother's cut would make the sum less appealing, but since he didn't plan on giving them their cut he wasn't particularly bothered by it.

Working with them wasn't what he wanted; he preferred to work alone. Despite his quick hands and feet, and charmingly good look, he just didn't possess the strength to pull off the job alone. He wasn't a fan of violence, but if they did happen to encounter a guard the brothers would have no qualms about taking them out with ease. Also the matter of silently lowering him to the princess's bedroom to snag the crown was something he just couldn't achieve himself. It would make for a quick getaway, too.

When the moon was high in the sky, Flynn pulled out a pocket watch. It was a nice thing, silver, and he thought it useful so he hadn't sold it after he swiped it from a Corona nobleman. The time read eleven thirty. It was time.

Flynn nudged Patchy, the one with the eye patch. It wasn't his real name, but Flynn wasn't too keen on getting too acquainted with them in order to memorize their real ones. Scarface looked up from his wood carving and over to Flynn. His knife glinted in the moonlight.

"You know how I love sitting under the stars with you guys, but if we don't get going soon we might not get another chance until morning," Flynn said as he stood, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. He turned and started making his way toward the princess's balcony, knowing the bothers would follow.

The castle was huge, to say the least, and finding the location of her majesty's bedroom was difficult considering how much the king and queen feared for her safety. Actually, scratch that. It had been astonishingly easy and even a little fun to find out where her bedroom was. He fondly remembered as he stealthily climbed across the castle's rooftop; by sheer luck he had stumbled upon a castle maid in a tavern one night. She was a bit disgruntled at a guard who had rejected her, and after a few drinks her lips proved to be very loose. She gave up the information to him easily enough after a few smiles and false compliments paid to her. That was all he had intended to get out of her; sleeping with her had just been a fringe benefit. He briefly wondered if she would be fired after tonight.

Flynn Rider was, if nothing else, a great thief. He had quick hands, disarming good looks, and quiet feet. He made his way across the castle with all the stealth and grace of a cat. He briefly looked behind him to see Patchy and Scarface noisily jump from ledge to ledge. They had all the grace of a three legged elephant. Shaking his head and sighing at the pair, he stopped when he made it to a ledge looking over the gardens. He glanced below to see a small overhang. If the maid was right, and he silently prayed she was, than the overhang was the princess's balcony.

Patchy and Scarface stopped behind him, their breathing heavy. "Is this it?" Scarface asked is his gruff voice.

Flynn nodded, excitement rising in his chest. He kneeled down against the edge and pulled out a rope from his satchel. He began to tie it around his waist.

"All right," he whispered, turning to the twins, "when I have the crown I'll give the rope two tugs, then you can pull me up. I'll tug once if I need more rope."

Patchy and Scarface looked to each other briefly, then nodded. Flynn handed them the other end of the rope. As they prepared for Flynn to jump, he looked briefly to admire the surroundings. Nothing but the moon and stars lit the night, and to see the forest and hills in the distance, the water shimmering in the moonlight… Well, it was magnificent.

"Damn," he said quietly, "I could get used to a view like this."

He turned to see the brothers rolling their eyes. Or, at least Scarface was. Flynn supposed Patchy could only roll one eye. He gave them a winning smile as he said, "Yep, I'm used to it. That's it guys, I think I want a castle."

They weren't so easily charmed. "When we finish this job, you can get your own castle," Scarface said, "Now hurry up pretty boy."

They didn't have to tell him twice. In no time he was scaling the wall and dropping to the balcony below with a soft thud. He stood for a moment in a crouched position, arms out for balance as he assessed the situation. He noticed that his luck hadn't run out, as the balcony doors were wide open, the translucent curtains flowing softly in the night breeze. No noise seemed to come from the inside.

Cautiously and quietly he made his way into the room, pausing briefly to let his eyes adjust to the darker lighting. The room was dark, but the outside moon shined bright, illuminating enough to let him survey the room. It was smaller than he had expected for the room of a princess and the king and queens only child. It was still huge, but smaller than he had expected. To his right there was a large bed, and he could barely make out a sleeping figure inside of it. Beyond that there was a fireplace where a few smoldering embers were still fighting to keep the fire going. A few other typical things. A table with a pitcher and basin. A nightstand. To his left he saw large doors which he either assumed was the way out into the hall or a large closet. Sitting next to the door was a large wooden cupboard with intricate carvings of the Corona sun symbol. Jack pot.

He started to move quietly toward the cupboard, his feet briefly getting caught up in what he assumed were clothes on the floor. Kicking it away, he ignored the soft moan coming from the bed. His heart raced with anticipation, as he placed his hand on the cupboard door handles. He quietly opened them, wincing at the creaking sounds they made. He tried to let his eyes adjust to the light in the dark cupboard, but apparently it was just too dark to feel anything. Instead he put his hands in, feeling around for the object he desired. He felt a few things that he wasn't interested in. Some of them felt like paint brushes or candles; worthless items. Then his hands felt the soft edge of a pillow, just like the maid had told him. He reached his hand in further, but found nothing. His heart stopped and he cursed quietly. It wasn't there.

Flynn turned around, eyes scanning the room frantically in search of something, anything of value. Something told him the Stabbington brothers wouldn't be too happy to have risked their lives so blatantly only to come up empty handed. He started to move swiftly about the room when his feet once again became caught up in something. He reached down to untangled himself, and was surprised at what he felt. He squinted at the thing in his hands, his eyes trailing to see where the thing ended.

"Is this… hair?" he whispered to himself in disbelief. Suddenly he felt the rope around his waist being tugged quite violently; he found himself being pulled backwards. He quickly scrambled to remain upright, hurrying back out to the balcony.

"I didn't tug twi-" he started to say, jumping in surprise when he saw the brothers quickly sliding down the rope. The landed with a shuddering thud. Flynn turned to open doors in horror when he heard someone stirring inside.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Flynn whispered harshly. "We're going to get caught!"

Scarface gave him a blank look with a raised eyebrow. "Where's the crown?"

Flynn blanched. Stuttering, he said, "The, uh, maid she must have given me the, uh, wrong information."

Scarface and Patchy looked unperturbed by this, brushing past him quietly to go into the room. This didn't make Flynn feel any better. He quickly untied himself from the rope and followed them for reasons that went against his every survival instinct.

He started to look around the room again, trying to spot something shiny in the moonlight, not noticing that the brothers had gone straight to the princess's bed. He finally realized where they had gone when they started to speak. The brothers were standing over the bed, reading from a paper. At first Flynn wasn't sure what they were saying, but he soon recognized the words.

"Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine," Scarface read. It took him a few moments to remember the old rhyme from his childhood. It seemed weird to Flynn to hear someone read it instead of sing it, but that thought was only in the back of his mind. At the moment he was confused and terrified that they might get caught. It would be the gallows for sure if they did. All of those thoughts left his mind, however, when a faint light started to appear all over the room.

It started from the bed, and like flowing water started to appear all around, even at Flynn's feet. He stood in paralyzing shock for a moment before it dawned on him what was happening.

_Holy shit_, Flynn thought with wide eyes, _the rumors are true!_

Corona's princess had magic…. Hair? It had been rumored among the people of Corona since the girl had nearly been kidnapped soon after her birth. It had been said the old woman who tried to take her had wanted to use her magic. But it had all been talk, no one had really believed it was why the king and queen were so protective of their daughter. But here right before his eyes... It was a lot to take in, and Flynn found himself on the verge of freaking out. What the hell was happening? Before he could voice his concerns, however, the princess began to stir in her bed. Flynn froze. He was a dead man.

"Greta?" a small voice said sleepily.

"Do it." Scarface said to Patchy.

He heard a gasp come from the princess and a muffled cry that soon stopped. Flynn hurried over to the bed. "What the hell is going on?"

Scarface turned to Flynn, who looked on in horror as Patchy took out a large sack. A sack big enough to fit a human inside.

"We knew the crown wouldn't be here tonight, Rider, but we needed you to get in to the Castle grounds unnoticed. It was a gamble to see if the rumors were true, but this is about to be the biggest payoff of any job we've ever done."

Flynn bristled at the words. He had just been double-crossed. He thought he had been playing them for fools, when the whole time he had just been playing into their hands! He fumed angrily. "And now what, you're kidnapping the princess to hold her for ransom!?"

Scarface chuckled. It sent shivers up Flynn's spine. "No, Rider. A one-time ransom is nothing. Tell me, what do you think people would pay to stay young forever?"

Flynn stood dumbstruck, his mouth slight agape. This couldn't be happening.

Patchy finished stuffing everything, hair included, into the large sack. His hoisted it over his shoulder and nodded to Scarface. "Since you helped us, Rider, I'll be willing to give you ten percent of the profits. Twenty if you help us get out of here."

His mind was racing, and he found himself feeling guilty that he was even tempted by their offer. Flynn Rider may have been a thief, but he would never steal a person, and he certainly would never support human trafficking whether it be for the purpose to sell sex or magic hair. But at the same time, what would happen to him if he said no? They weren't above tying him up and leaving him here to be hanged, and he certainly was no match for their giant strength. And then there was the matter of what would happen to her.

He had not wanted to deal with the Stabbingtons. They had a filthy reputation, and had been rumored to main and murder, not to mention plunder and rape. He had only needed their strength. They were the only ones crazy enough to do the job with him. If Flynn left the princess with them, what would happen to her? Would they rape her? Kill her? He couldn't live with himself if he just walked away and tried to wash his hands of it.

He found himself agreeing to their terms and half an hour later they were just running to the other side of the bridge when they heard the first alarm bells going off.

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Feel free to review and tell me what you think, or what I could improve.


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